by Maia and Elise M.R.
It was a cold, snowy
winter night. Young Priscilla Mullins lay awake, listening to
the howling wind pounding against her delicate window. Priscilla
had twinkling blue eyes and long wavy golden hair that went down
to her knees. She looked over at her brother, Joseph, to see
if he was also awake.
"Ahhhh!" she screamed. To her astonishment, she saw her brother motionless and pale, moaning constantly. She got up and dashed to her parents' bed. She was speechless. She shook her parents awake.
"What's the matter, Priscilla?" cried her mother, Alice. Still speechless, Priscilla pointed to where Joseph lay. Both parents ran to his side.
"Speak to me! Speak to me!" her mother cried between tears. Joseph lifted up his thin pale hands and let them drop.
"He's dead!" yelled Priscilla. William Mullins comforted his wife and child.
"Don't worry, he's had a good life, and God will take care of him," Mr. Mullins said. "Tomorrow morning we will have a ceremony for him."
In the morning, the sun streamed through Priscilla's window.
"What a nightmare!" she thought. But when she looked in her brother's bed, it was empty. She began to cry. All of a sudden, she heard the door open and her father came in.
"I went to William Brewster's house and I arranged the ceremony," he said. "It's at ten o'clock, so hurry up and get dressed.
"Let us share the good times we had with our dear Joseph," said William Brewster, the minister, once the ceremony began. "Who would like to be first?"
Samuel Fuller, who was one of Joseph's best friends, raised his hand.
"I remember one time when Joseph and
I went down to the pond," he said. "We were water wrestling
and I pushed him under the water. I waited a few minutes and
he didn't come up. I looked around the pond and did not see him.
So I looked under the water and he was not there either. I started
to swim to shore to get help and that's when I saw Joseph on
the shore, laughing at me. Evidently, Joseph had swum under water
all the way to the shore!"
Other stories were told, and many laughs and smiles appeared. After the stories, the women brought out delicious food to celebrate Joseph's life.
"I would like to make a toast to Joseph and his great life!" said Joseph's father.
After the brunch, the Pilgrims went outside to bury their dear Joseph. Many women and men cried, but tried to keep a smile on their faces. When they buried Joseph, they did not mark the grave, because they were afraid the Native people might attack them if they knew how few of the Pilgrims were left.
Little did they know that before the winter was over, both William and Alice Mullins would be buried side by side next to their son!
